A red carnation is traditionally worn to honor a living mother. The color became part of Mother’s Day symbolism through the floral customs that developed around Anna Jarvis’s movement in the United States.
Jarvis originally promoted the white carnation, her mother Ann Reeves Jarvis’s favorite flower, as the emblem of Mother’s Day. White carnations were associated with remembrance and honoring mothers who had died. As the holiday became more popular, florists introduced and promoted other colors to meet demand.
By the 1920s, the red carnation had come to represent a living mother, while the white carnation commonly honored a deceased mother. This red-versus-white distinction is a traditional convention, not a universal rule followed by every family or church today. Modern celebrations use roses, mixed bouquets, potted plants, and many other flowers.
Another common mix-up is assuming pink is the standard answer. Pink carnations may certainly be given to mothers, but the classic symbolic pairing is red for a living mother and white for one who has died. Jarvis herself later criticized the commercial exploitation of these floral traditions.